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Music at the Mansion

Ueno Gakuen University is a private university near Ueno station and is famous for specialising in music. Today a group of their very talented saxophone players put on a performance at Kyu-Iwasaki Gardens which was absolutely wonderful. With warm weather, the crowd, which I judged to be about one hundred, settled in to enjoy some equally wonderful music.

The entrance to the mansion that was designed by English architect, Josiah Conder

The mansion at the gardens, designed by famed English architect Josiah Conder, was the perfect place for such a concert. It was old time music in old world luxury. The audience was seated on the grass while the ensemble played on the veranda. Some of the pieces that were played included "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin and a great Glen Medley which included "In the Mood". There were also several breaks during the concert as the conductor explained a little about the group and their instruments.

The saxophone ensemble from Ueno Gakuen University takes a bow after the concert

I believe the group will return to Kyu-Iwasaki Gardens for another concert in December which will be something to look forward to. As information comes to hand, we'll keep you updated. And if you don't know, Ueno Gakuen University is well-known for one of its graduates, Nobuyuki Tsuji, who was a gold medalist at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Nobuyuki was born blind, but that hasn't held him back as he is now a world-famous pianist and composer. I'm that some of the musicians that performed this weekend will hoping to start their own music careers after graduation like he did.